


By Candlelight

by Briana_Dubs



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Loki is also not a god, M/M, Tony is still rich but he's not a superhero, also hi neighbor you're really cute AU, briefly mentioned Pepper Potts, no powers au, now we work with candles, power went out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-09 18:00:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20122531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Briana_Dubs/pseuds/Briana_Dubs
Summary: Tony Stark, the inventing genius, accidentally knocks out the power to the little apartment complex he rents for secret inventing binges. Deciding that he should probably fix the mess he caused, he goes to ask his neighbor if they have a flashlight or candle or something. But the man who opens the door is decidedly not the elderly gentleman who lives in that complex, or his lovely wife. Whoever he is, though, he's GORGEOUS!





	By Candlelight

**Author's Note:**

> if I knew I could do it, i'd be participating in the frostiron bingo going on, but with work and everything else there's no way i'd get them consistently done.

Okay, so technically it _was_ his fault. But he could fix it!

He had just been tinkering with a new invention when he shorted out the power to the building. He hadn’t meant for it to happen.

If he were back in the Tony Stark tower he wouldn’t have had to worry about things like this. However, he was currently avoiding the tower because his CEO was there and she was on a mission to get him to sign papers and go to meetings. His name was not on the side of the tower because he was famous for signing papers. He was famous for inventing! So why, whenever he was in the tower, could he not just get some time to invent?!

The lights had gone dark and the radio had cut out after a spark from his wiring exploded in front of his face. That had been his first clue, and hearing his neighbors across the hall swearing was his final clue.

He had met his neighbors a couple of times. He had told them his name was Tony French- he hated having to answer to names that weren’t his own when he was incognito. He always forgot his alias. At least this way he would actually look at them if they ever said hi. But, anyway, back to the neighbors. They were a nice older couple. An older man with white hair and a matching beard, an eyepatch, and a bit of a frown and who Tony assumed was his wife. A lovely woman with brown hair slowly fading to a grey-blonde combination and a gentle voice. Their names were Odin and Frigga, from what Tony could remember. Frigga had offered him cookies when he first met her. It was very cute.

Sometimes their son would visit. Tony hadn’t really met him, but he had seen him and heard him. Boy was he loud!! He was a giant beefcake of a man. All blond hair and muscle and absolutely no volume control. (He didn’t know his name.)

But, even if their son was over for a visit (Judging by how loud that swearing had been, Tony would say yes.) Tony could still go over and talk to them. He just needed either a flashlight or some candles and he could go down and reset the breaker. Possibly fix it if he seriously damaged something.

Forcing himself up off his floor, Tony waddled to the door to the little apartment he rented. He nearly tripped over his tools, but he managed to reach the doorknob and pushed out into the dim hallway. The only light coming in was from the window at the very end of the hall. The light flickering in from the streetlights outside was barely enough for Tony to see with.

Reaching up, he rapped on the door directly across from his own and waited. As soon as he heard the doorknob click as it turned, he started speaking.

“Hey, neighbor, sorry to bother you, but I was just uh--… Uhm…” He lost his entire train of thought when he saw the man that opened up the door. Tall, slim, the sharpest cheekbones Tony had ever seen, and long black hair hanging in a braid over his shoulder. Even with the darkness obscuring a lot of his face, Tony could recognize model-level-gorgeous when he saw it. He stared at him dumbly for a moment before his brain finally functioned enough to say, “You’re not my neighbor.”

The man, who Tony only half noticed was holding a lit candle in a bowl, made a scoffing noise and smiled. “An astute observation,” he teased. Motioning with one shoulder, he half tossed his head back in the direction of the apartment behind him. “This apartment belongs to my mother and her husband.”

“Oh…” Tony continued gawking at him.

After a moment, Tony noticed the man’s smile widen. Shit, he really _had_ been staring! Hopefully it was too dark to see how much he was blushing.

“Was there something you needed?”

Tony blinked a few times. “Oh! Oh, right! Uh- yeah. Do you guys have a flashlight or a few candles I could borrow? I might be able to get the power back up.” He hoped he didn’t sound as nervous as he felt. God, this guy was _handsome_!

The man cocked his head and raised an eyebrow at him. “You don’t have a flashlight in your own apartment?” he asked, smirking a little bit.

Huffing, Tony said, “If I have a flashlight in there, I wouldn’t even be able to find it with the lights _on!_”

“Bit messy, are we?”

“You have no idea,” Tony said, smiling. “My friends say I should be on that hoarding show.” After a second, he stuck his hand out toward the handsome man. “Name’s Tony, by the way.”

Taking his hand and shaking it, he said, “Loki.” After letting go, he sighed. “I’m afraid we don’t have a flashlight that isn’t being used,” he said, “However, I do have plenty of candles if you’d like.”

“Sure,” Tony beamed, “Any light would help. I just need to be able to see my tools and the breaker box.” He turned and pushed his door back open, Loki following behind him with his candle in a bowl.

“You are a tradesman?” Tony could feel Loki leaning over him as he bent to dig through his piles of stuff to find his toolbox.

“I’m an inventor,” Tony replied, “But I’m always up for a trade or two. How ‘bout we trade phone numbers?” No time like the present for flirting! Loki chuckled behind him, and damn wasn’t that a noise to hear. Deep, rich, velvety. Mm! Yep, Tony was definitely going to keep flirting if it got him more noises like that.

“My, aren’t you a charmer… Hmm. Perhaps if you actually return power to the building, you might get your wish.”

Tony was internally doing cartwheels. It only took him a minute longer before he was pulling out his toolbox and shouting, “Ha! Success!”

When he turned back around to look at Loki, he asked, “So, should we grab a couple more candles just in case?”

“Hm? Oh! Oh, yes, of course,” Loki seemed a little flustered. Probably forgot with all Tony’s flirting. He was proud to have distracted him so easily.

Loki went back into the other apartment while Tony waited in the hall. He came back out with two little candles in square glasses. They almost looked like fancy planters to Tony. He took one from Loki and the two of them made a very slow trek down the stairs toward the basement.

“So the giant bodybuilder guy is your brother, huh?” Tony asked, just trying to make small talk.

Loki huffed. “Not by blood,” he replied. “I was adopted.”

“Oh… No wonder you guys look nothing alike.” Tony glanced over his shoulder. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Loki said. “He looks just like his father did when he was young.”

“I look like my dad, too,” Tony said. “People tell me I look just like him. I don’t see it.”

“No?”

“No. I don’t have a mustache. Absolutely no resemblance.” Tony grinned when Loki laughed at that. He liked hearing Loki laugh. He had such a rich voice.

When they finally got to the breaker boxes, after Tony picked the lock to get into the room, he dropped his toolbox and set his little candle up on a cardboard box in the tiny room. Loki stood close behind him with his lights and just watched as Tony began flipping switches and replacing parts that did nothing. It took him a grand total of twenty four minutes before the lights in the small room flicked back on and the sound of a hundred smoke alarms beeping back into life throughout the building met their ears.

“Ha!” Tony almost punched the box he was so pleased. “Got it! Now, how ‘bout that number?” He had spun around to look at Loki, all smiles. But when he saw the mortified look on Loki’s face his smile fell.

“What?” He frowned. “What happened?”

“You’re Tony Stark,” Loki whispered.

Tony felt warm. He was sure his cheeks were bright red. “Oh, _that_… Yeah, um… Nice to meet you?”

Loki still looked startled beyond belief. But, damn, he looked even better in proper light. Absolutely stunning. Ooh, and he had green eyes! Hadn’t been able to see that in the dark!

“Fuck, you said you were an inventor… I’m such a fool… But… What is a billionaire doing living in an apartment complex like this?” Loki’s voice had taken on a confused lilt. “The richest people here are my parents, and even then….” His face hardened into a scowl. “All right, talk.”

Tony sputtered and laughed a tiny bit. He held up his hands. “Easy, easy,” he said, “I don’t live here. I rent out the apartment and come by when I need time to myself to invent.” He gave a cheeky grin then. “You would not _believe_ how much my CEO gets on my back about paperwork.”

Hearing him talk, Loki’s face slowly softened up. “So there’s no ulterior motive to you being here?”

“No,” Tony answered. “Unless you count the cookies your mom makes. They’re really weird, but really good.”

A tiny laugh bubbled out of Loki before he cleared his throat to stop it. “Right, well… Ah…” He cleared his throat again. “Goodness, knowing that you could buy this building with your pocket change makes it a fair bit harder to talk to you.”

Jumping forward, Tony waved a hand. “No, no! Don’t overthink it! I liked how snarky you were before!”

“Did you?”

“_God yes_!” Tony spread his hands wide. “Do you know how many people constantly try to kiss my ass?! Having someone tease me and call me a shithead is such a breath of fresh air!”

“I never called you a shithead,” Loki commented, smirking a little bit.

“Okay maybe that was Pepper, but still!” Tony hoped his tone made it evident how much he liked him. “You _promised_ you’d give me your number!”

“Also something I never did.” Now Loki’s smile was all teeth. He reached out a hand to give him a little pat on the head. “Don’t worry, though, I’ll still give it to you. I like you enough.”

It took Tony a minute to register what he said before he was jumping into the air in excitement. And as he bounced around and made a fool of himself, Loki laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't know how to end the fic


End file.
